System and method to manage processing operations within a wireless terminal following receipt of a null page

ABSTRACT

A method and system to determine when a wireless terminal has been paged by a servicing base station. An encoded paging burst is received on a paging channel and then decoded to produce a decoded paging burst. The decoded paging burst is processed to determine if it is a null page. When the encoded paging burst is a null page, subsequent processing operations scheduled to follow a later null page are rescheduled and immediately processed, allowing the wireless terminal to re-enter the sleep mode more quickly following the receipt of a subsequent paging burst.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to cellular wirelesscommunication systems; and more particularly to the managing processingoperations performed following the receipt of a paging burst within awireless terminal.

2. Related Art

Cellular wireless communication systems support wireless communicationservices in many populated areas of the world. While cellular wirelesscommunication systems were initially constructed to service voicecommunications, they are now called upon to support data communicationsas well. The demand for data communication services has exploded withthe acceptance and widespread use of the Internet. While datacommunications have historically been serviced via wired connections,cellular wireless users now demand that their wireless units alsosupport data communications. Many wireless subscribers now expect to beable to “surf” the Internet, access their email, and perform other datacommunication activities using their cellular phones, wireless personaldata assistants, wirelessly linked notebook computers, and/or otherwireless devices. The demand for wireless communication system datacommunications will only increase with time. Thus, cellular wirelesscommunication systems are currently being created/modified to servicethese burgeoning data communication demands.

Cellular wireless networks include a “network infrastructure” thatwirelessly communicates with wireless terminals within a respectiveservice coverage area. The network infrastructure typically includes aplurality of base stations dispersed throughout the service coveragearea, each of which supports wireless communications within a respectivecell (or set of sectors). The base stations couple to base stationcontrollers (BSCs), with each BSC serving a plurality of base stations.Each BSC couples to a mobile switching center (MSC). Each BSC alsotypically directly or indirectly couples to the Internet.

In operation, each base station communicates with a plurality ofwireless terminals operating in its cell/sectors. A BSC coupled to thebase station routes voice communications between the MSC and a servingbase station. The MSC routes voice communications to another MSC or tothe PSTN. Typically, BSCs route data communications between a servicingbase station and a packet data network that may include or couple to theInternet. Transmissions from base stations to wireless terminals arereferred to as “forward link” transmissions while transmissions fromwireless terminals to base stations are referred to as “reverse link”transmissions. The volume of data transmitted on the forward linktypically exceeds the volume of data transmitted on the reverse link.Such is the case because data users typically issue commands to requestdata from data sources, e.g., web servers, and the web servers providethe data to the wireless terminals.

Wireless links between base stations and their serviced wirelessterminals typically operate according to one (or more) of a plurality ofoperating standards. These operating standards define the manner inwhich the wireless link may be allocated, setup, serviced and torn down.One popular cellular standard is the Global System for Mobiletelecommunications (GSM) standard. The GSM standard, or simply GSM, ispredominant in Europe and is in use around the globe. While GSMoriginally serviced only voice communications, it has been modified toalso service data communications. In GSM, wireless terminals areinformed of the need to service incoming communications via pages frombase stations to the wireless terminals. GSM General Packet RadioService (GPRS) operations and the Enhanced Data rates for GSM (orGlobal) Evolution (EDGE) operations coexist with GSM by sharing thechannel bandwidth, slot structure, and slot timing of the GSM standard.GPRS operations and EDGE operations may also serve as migration pathsfor other standards as well, e.g., IS-136 and Pacific Digital Cellular(PDC).

To conserve power, the wireless terminal may sleep when not activelycommunicating with a servicing base station. However, to ensure nocommunications are missed, the wireless terminal awakens periodically toreceive a page burst that indicates if the wireless terminal mustservice a communication from the servicing base station processingoperations are often scheduled to follow the receipt of a page. Sincethe operations are scheduled prior to the actual knowledge of theinformation contained within the page, these processing operations areoften divided to be performed following multiple pages. To make thisdetermination, the wireless terminal typically expends significantbattery power and processing resources to decode the page burst todetermine whether the wireless terminal was paged and perform scheduledprocessing operations. Thus, there exists a need for wireless terminalsthat can quickly and efficiently identify whether it has been paged andmanage the performance of processing operations without unnecessarilyconsuming the resources of the wireless terminal.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system and method to manage theprocessing operations within a wireless terminal following the receiptof a paging burst, such as a null page, from a servicing base stationthat substantially meets the above-described needs as well as others.This involves first receiving an encoded paging burst on a pagingchannel. The encoded paging burst is decoded to produce a decoded pagingburst. Then a determination is made to determine whether or not thedecoded paging burst contains a null page for the wireless terminal.When the decoded paging burst contains a null page for the wirelessterminal, processing operations within the wireless terminal may berescheduled. Following the rescheduling of processing operations and thecompletion of any necessary processing operations, the wireless terminalmay then enter a sleep mode for a brief period of time until the nextscheduled paging burst is to be received. These processing operationsmay include, for example, the gathering and evaluating of neighbor cellmeasurements which are used to help determine when to conduct a hand offor change which base station is serving the wireless terminal.

Rescheduling of the processing operations may involve moving forward theprocessing operations that are currently scheduled to follow asubsequent page. In this way, future staggered processing operations maybe consolidated and performed as a group following a null page. Thisconsolidation allows the wireless terminal to enter a longer sleep modeperiod, or to more quickly enter a sleep mode period following thereceipt of a subsequent page. Thus, rescheduling processing operationsmay allow the length of a subsequent awake period to be reduced.

Another embodiment provides a wireless terminal that has a radiofrequency (RF) front end, a baseband processor communicatively coupledto the RF front end, and an encoder/decoder (CODEC) processing modulecommunicatively coupled to the baseband processor. The combination ofthe RF front end, baseband processor, and processing CODEC processingmodule are operable to receive an encoded paging burst. Then, thecombination may decode the paging burst and determine whether or not thedecoded paging burst contains a null page for the receiving wirelessterminal. When a null page is present, processing operations may berescheduled to more efficiently utilize the resources and conserve powerwithin the wireless terminal. When processing operations are complete,the wireless terminal may enter a sleep mode until the next scheduledpaging burst is to be received. As in the previous embodiment, theprocessing operations may include the gathering and evaluation ofneighbor cell measurements which may be used by the network to determinewhen a handoff of the servicing base station should take place. Duringneighbor cell measurements, the wireless terminal measures the strengthof neighboring cells, and then these measurements could be reported tothe servicing base station (Mobile Assisted Handoffs “MAHO”). Thenetwork may then initiate handoff of the wireless terminal to a newservicing base station. Rescheduling processing operations, such asthese, may move forward process operations currently scheduled to followa subsequent page. In this way, the awake period associated with asubsequent null page may be reduced.

Yet another embodiment provides a wireless terminal having an RF frontend, a baseband processor, and a CODEC processing module. Thiscombination receives the encoded paging burst and decodes the pagingburst to produce a decoded paging burst. The combination also determineswhether or not the decoded paging burst contains a null page for thewireless terminal. When the decoded paging burst contains a null page,the combination reschedules neighbor cell measurements currentlyscheduled to follow a subsequent paging burst to immediately follow theprocessing of the immediate paging burst containing a null page for thewireless terminal. The combination further directs that the wirelessterminal enter a sleep mode at the completion of the processingoperations following a null page. When the paging burst may include anextended page received in multiple parts separated by at least oneframe, the processing operations may be rescheduled to be performed inbetween receipt of various portions of the extended page.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of the invention madewith reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating a portion of a cellular wirelesscommunication system that supports wireless terminals operatingaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram functionally illustrating a wireless terminalconstructed according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating in more detail the wirelessterminal of FIG. 2, with particular emphasis on the digital processingcomponents of the wireless terminal;

FIG. 4A is a block diagram illustrating the formation of paging channeldownlink transmissions;

FIG. 4B is a timeline illustrating the awake period associated with thereceipt and decoding of paging bursts, and the processing of operationsfollowing receipt of the paging burst; and

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a wireless terminal inreceiving and processing a paging burst and the rescheduling ofprocessing operations according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating a portion of a cellular wirelesscommunication system 100 that supports wireless terminals operatingaccording to the present invention. The cellular wireless communicationsystem 100 includes a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) 101, Serving GPRSSupport Node/Serving EDGE Support Node (SGSN/SESN) 102, base stationcontrollers (BSCs) 152 and 154, and base stations 103, 104, 105, and106. The SGSN/SESN 102 couples to the Internet 114 via a GPRS GatewaySupport Node (GGSN) 112. A conventional voice terminal 121 couples tothe PSTN 110. A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) terminal 123 and apersonal computer 125 couple to the Internet 114. The MSC 101 couples tothe Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 110.

Each of the base stations 103-106 services a cell/set of sectors withinwhich it supports wireless communications. Wireless links that includeboth forward link components and reverse link components supportwireless communications between the base stations and their servicedwireless terminals. These wireless links support digital datacommunications, VoIP communications, and other digital multimediacommunications. The cellular wireless communication system 100 may alsobe backward compatible in supporting analog operations as well. Thecellular wireless communication system 100 supports the Global Systemfor Mobile telecommunications (GSM) standard and also the Enhanced Datarates for GSM (or Global) Evolution (EDGE) extension thereof. Thecellular wireless communication system 100 may also support the GSMGeneral Packet Radio Service (GPRS) extension to GSM. However, thepresent invention is also applicable to other standards as well, e.g.,TDMA standards, CDMA standards, etc. In general, the teachings of thepresent invention apply to digital communications that combine AutomaticRepeat ReQuest (ARQ) operations at Layer 2, e.g., LINK/MAC layer withvariable coding/decoding operations at Layer 1 (PHY).

Wireless terminals 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, and 130 couple tothe cellular wireless communication system 100 via wireless links withthe base stations 103-106. As illustrated, wireless terminals mayinclude cellular telephones 116 and 118, laptop computers 120 and 122,desktop computers 124 and 126, and data terminals 128 and 130. However,the cellular wireless communication system 100 supports communicationswith other types of wireless terminals as well. As is generally known,devices such as laptop computers 120 and 122, desktop computers 124 and126, data terminals 128 and 130, and cellular telephones 116 and 118,are enabled to “surf” the Internet 114, transmit and receive datacommunications such as email, transmit and receive files, and to performother data operations. Many of these data operations have significantdownload data-rate requirements while the upload data-rate requirementsare not as severe. Some or all of the wireless terminals 116-130 aretherefore enabled to support the GPRS and/or EDGE operating standard aswell as supporting the voice servicing portions the GSM standard.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram functionally illustrating a wireless terminal200 constructed according to the present invention. The wirelessterminal 200 of FIG. 2 includes an RF transceiver 202, digitalprocessing components 204, and various other components contained withina housing. The digital processing components 204 includes two mainfunctional components, a physical layer processing, speech COder/DECoder(CODEC), and baseband CODEC functional block 206 and a protocolprocessing, man-machine interface functional block 208. A Digital SignalProcessor (DSP) is the major component of the physical layer processing,speech COder/DECoder (CODEC), and baseband CODEC functional block 206while a microprocessor, e.g., Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC)processor, is the major component of the protocol processing,man-machine interface functional block 208. The DSP may also be referredto as a Radio Interface Processor (RIP) while the RISC processor may bereferred to as a system processor. However, these naming conventions arenot to be taken as limiting the functions of these components.

The RF transceiver 202 couples to an antenna 203, to the digitalprocessing components 204, and also to a battery 224 that powers allcomponents of the wireless terminal 200. The physical layer processing,speech COder/DECoder (CODEC), and baseband CODEC functional block 206couples to the protocol processing, man-machine interface functionalblock 208 and to a coupled microphone 226 and speaker 228. The protocolprocessing, man-machine interface functional block 208 couples to aPersonal Computing/Data Terminal Equipment interface 210, a keypad 212,a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) port 213, a camera 214, a flashRAM 216, an SRAM 218, a LCD 220, and LED(s) 222. The camera 214 and LCD220 may support either/both still pictures and moving pictures. Thus,the wireless terminal 200 of FIG. 2 supports video services as well asaudio services via the cellular network.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating in more detail the wirelessterminal of FIG. 2, with particular emphasis on the digital processingcomponents of the wireless terminal. The digital processing components204 include a system processor 302, a baseband processor 304, and aplurality of supporting components. The supporting components include anexternal memory interface 306, MMI drivers and I/F 308, a video I/F 310,an audio I/F 312, a voice band CODEC 314, auxiliary functions 316, amodulator/demodulator 322, ROM 324, RAM 326 and a plurality ofprocessing modules. In some embodiments, the modulator/demodulator 322is not a separate structural component with these functions beingperformed internal to the baseband processor 304.

The processing modules are also referred to herein as accelerators,co-processors, processing modules, or otherwise, and include auxiliaryfunctions 316, an equalizer module 318, an encoder/decoder module 320,and an Incremental Redundancy (IR) processing module 328. Theinterconnections of FIG. 3 are one example of a manner in which thesecomponents may be interconnected. Other embodiments supportadditional/alternate couplings. Such coupling may be direct, indirect,and/or may be via one or more intermediary components.

RAM and ROM service both the system processor 302 and the basebandprocessor 304. Both the system processor 302 and the baseband processor304 may couple to shared RAM 326 and ROM 324, couple to separate RAM,coupled to separate ROM, couple to multiple RAM blocks, some shared,some not shared, or may be served in a differing manner by the memory.In one particular embodiment, the system processor 302 and the basebandprocessor 304 coupled to respective separate RAMs and ROMs and alsocouple to a shared RAM that services control and data transfers betweenthe devices. The processing modules 316, 318, 320, 322, and 328 maycoupled as illustrated in FIG. 3 but may also coupled in other mannersin differing embodiments.

The system processor 302 services at least a portion of a servicedprotocol stack, e.g., GSM/GPRS/EDGE protocol stack. In particular thesystem processor 302 services Layer 1 (L1) operations 330, a portion ofIncremental Redundancy (IR) GSM protocol stack operations 332 (referredto as “IR control process”), Medium Access Control (MAC) operations 334,and Radio Link Control (RLC) operations 336. The baseband processor 304in combination with the modulator/demodulator 322, RF transceiver,equalizer module 318, and/or encoder/decoder module 320 service thePhysical Layer (PHY) operations performed by the digital processingcomponents 204.

FIG. 4A depicts the various stages associated with forming andinterpreting paging channel (PCH) downlink transmissions. The originalpages for the individual wireless terminals or mobile stations areinitially divided into a series of pages to be transmitted according toa predetermined schedule to the wireless terminals. This predeterminedschedule allows the individual wireless terminals, when not activelytransmitting, to enter a sleep mode and merely awaken when it isnecessary to receive their respective page bursts. As shown here, theoriginal page undergoes two stages of encoding. First, the originalpages undergo a block coding operation that is typically referred to asouter encoding. The block coding stage, allows for the detection oferrors within the data block. In addition, the Data blocks may besupplemented with tail bits or block code sequence. Since Block Codingis the first or external stage of channel coding, the block code is alsoknown as an external or outer encoding scheme. Typically, two kinds ofcodes are used, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) or a Fire Code. The FireCodes allow for either error correction or error detection. Errordetection with the Fire Code, verifies connectivity.

Next, the pages undergo a second level of encoding that typically is aconvolutional coding referred to as inner encoding. The pages may beoptionally interleaved to form paging bursts. These paging bursts arewhat the wireless terminal receives according to the predeterminedschedule.

FIG. 4B is a timeline illustrating the receipt and decoding of pagingbursts particularly comparing full decoding to partial decodingaccording to the present invention. Illustrated in FIG. 4B are a seriesof paging bursts 400 that are received according to paging groupsreceived approximately every 0.5 to 2.0 seconds. The paging bursts carryeither a page or a null page for each wireless terminal assigned to acorresponding paging group. When carrying a page, the paging burst 400signals the wireless terminal to respond to the servicing base station.This may involve servicing a voice call, data or text. When the pagingburst 400 is sent, individual wireless terminals that are assigned tothe paging group awaken for a period of time indicated by the awakeportion of timeline 402 to receive the paging burst.

Typically, 4 paging bursts make up every paging message andtraditionally all 4 paging bursts need to be received before decodingcan begin. Housekeeping and processing operations often follow theprocessing of individual paging bursts. A sufficiently reliableindication of whether or not the paging message contains any usefulinformation for the mobile may be obtained from only the 1st pagingburst of the 4 paging bursts without waiting for the 4 paging as suchthis would allow subsequent processing operations, awake periods andsleep periods to be rearranged to improve the utilization of systemresources. For example, the identification of a null page allowssubsequent processing operations to be moved forward while subsequentsleep periods are extended.

Subsequent processing operations, such as neighbor cell measurements areoften scheduled to follow each burst. The gathering and evaluating ofneighbor cell measurements help determine when to conduct a hand off orchange which base station is serving the wireless terminal. Duringneighbor cell measurements, the wireless terminal measures the strengthof neighboring cells, and then these measurements could be reported tothe servicing base station (Mobile Assisted Hand Off “MAHO”). Thenetwork may then initiate handoff of the wireless terminal to a newservicing base station.

Rescheduling processing operations, such as these, may move forwardprocess operations that are currently scheduled to follow a subsequentpage. In this way, the awake period associated with a subsequent nullpage may be reduced. Future staggered processing operations may beconsolidated and performed as a group following a null page. Thisconsolidation allows the wireless terminal to enter a longer sleep modeperiod, or to more quickly enter a sleep mode period following thereceipt of a subsequent page. Thus, moving forward the processingoperations may allow the length of a subsequent awake period to bereduced.

In one specific embodiment, if after receiving the 1st paging burst andperforming the null pattern match the result is inconclusive then the2nd paging burst can be received and tested for conformity to the nullpaging message, and so on until all 4 bursts have been received. As onecan appreciate, each paging burst which does not have to be receivedover the air-interface provides measurable and useful power consumptionbenefits.

When all 4 paging bursts of the block are received and decoded, thisconstitutes normal paging message reception/decoding. The benefitsresult from reducing the time that the radio (RF) portion of thereceiver is employed (receiving 1 or 2 bursts instead of 4 bursts) andbypassing a large amount of unnecessary baseband message decoding andfurther processing to understand the contents of the message. Timeline402 shows that the wireless terminal's processors are either awake orasleep. When the wireless terminal awakens it may fully decode thepaging burst and conduct other processing operations. Operations such asneighbor cell measurements often are scheduled in a staggered fashion tofollow receipt of each paging burst. However, when a paging burst orseries of paging bursts is determined to be a null page, theseoperations may be rescheduled to immediately follow the current pagingbursts processing. A favorable pattern comparison between the pagingburst and a null page pattern may be used by the wireless terminal todetermine that the paging burst is a null page. However, one should notethat a null page might be required to be fully decoded. Time segments404 and 406 show that the time required to fully decode the paging burstis much greater than that required to merely perform a patterncomparison on the processed paging burst with an existing null pagepattern. One can appreciate that the wireless terminal will remain awakemuch longer when a full decode of the paging burst is required. Thismeans that additional power will be consumed and processing resourceswill be utilized to fully decode the paging burst when compared tomerely conducting a pattern comparison as indicated in block 406.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a wireless terminal inreceiving and processing a paging burst according to the presentinvention. The RF front end receives an encoded paging burst in step502. The RF front end then converts the encoded paging burst into abaseband signal for the baseband processor in step 504. In step 506, theRF front end then asserts an interrupt to the baseband processor thatcauses the baseband processor to receive and begin processing thebaseband signal containing the paging burst at step 508. The basebandprocessor pre-processes the encoded paging bursts in Step 510 andequalizes the pre-processed encoded paging bursts in Step 512 to producesoft decisions. Alternately, the equalizer module 318 equalizes thepre-processed encoded paging burst and interrupts the baseband processorto indicate that the equalizer operations are complete for the pagingburst. In this case, the baseband processor receives the soft decisionsfrom the equalizer module.

At Step 514 soft symbols of the encoded paging bursts are decoded. Thisdecoding may be performed by the baseband processor 304 or theEncoder/Decoder module 320. The decoding of step 514 corresponds to thecoding operations performed by the servicing base station in creatingthe paging burst. The decoded paging burst is evaluated at decisionpoint 516 to whether or not the page is a null page. If the paging burstis not a null page, in Step 518 the wireless terminal responds to thepage, which may include servicing a call.

If the page is a null page, processing operations currently scheduled tofollow a subsequent null page may be rescheduled in Step 520 forimmediate processing in Step 522. One method for identifying the nullpage is to compare the null page to a null page pattern created fromprocessed associated with a prior null page. One technique for doingthis processing involves concatenating the soft decisions into harddecisions and using the hard decisions as the null page pattern. Stillanother technique for determining the null page pattern is to re-encodethe decoded null page to produce the null page pattern. Using thistechnique, the encoding scheme(s) that is used by the base station toencode paging bursts must be known and used. The wireless terminal maythen re-enter the sleep mode for a predetermined period of time step524.

As one of average skill in the art will appreciate, the term“substantially” or “approximately”, as may be used herein, provides anindustry-accepted tolerance to its corresponding term. Such anindustry-accepted tolerance ranges from less than one percent to twentypercent and corresponds to, but is not limited to, component values,integrated circuit process variations, temperature variations, rise andfall times, and/or thermal noise. As one of average skill in the artwill further appreciate, the term “operably coupled”, as may be usedherein, includes direct coupling and indirect coupling via anothercomponent, element, circuit, or module where, for indirect coupling, theintervening component, element, circuit, or module does not modify theinformation of a signal but may adjust its current level, voltage level,and/or power level. As one of average skill in the art will alsoappreciate, inferred coupling (i.e., where one element is coupled toanother element by inference) includes direct and indirect couplingbetween two elements in the same manner as “operably coupled”. As one ofaverage skill in the art will further appreciate, the term “comparesfavorably”, as may be used herein, indicates that a comparison betweentwo or more elements, items, signals, etc., provides a desiredrelationship. For example, when the desired relationship is that signal1 has a greater magnitude than signal 2, a favorable comparison may beachieved when the magnitude of signal 1 is greater than that of signal 2or when the magnitude of signal 2 is less than that of signal 1.

The foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention hasbeen presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to explain the principlesof the invention and its practical application to enable one skilled inthe art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It isintended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claimsappended hereto, and their equivalents.

1. A method to manage processing operations following a wirelessterminal receiving a null page from a servicing base station, the methodcomprises: receiving an encoded paging burst on a paging channel;decoding the encoded paging burst to produce a decoded paging burst;determining that the decoded paging burst contains a null page for thewireless terminal; consolidating a plurality of staggered processingoperations associated with receiving a plurality of subsequent encodedpaging bursts when the decoded paging burst contains the null page forthe wireless terminal; performing the consolidated plurality ofstaggered processing operations as a group following the null page; andafter the consolidated plurality of staggered processing operations isperformed during an awake period, entering a sleep mode for a sleep modeperiod that is adjacent to and follows the awake period; and afterreceipt of one of the plurality of subsequent encoded paging burstsduring a subsequent awake period, entering a subsequent sleep modeperiod that is adjacent to and follows the subsequent awake period,wherein a length of the subsequent sleep mode period is longer than alength of the sleep mode period and a length of the subsequent awakeperiod is shorter than a length of the awake period.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the processing operations associated with receiving atleast one subsequent encoded paging burst comprise gathering andevaluating neighbor cell measurements.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinconsolidating the plurality of staggered processing operations comprisesmoving forward the processing operations that are currently scheduled tofollow the subsequent encoding paging burst.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the processing operations are associated with gathering andevaluating neighbor cell measurements.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereinmoving forward the processing operations that are currently scheduled tofollow the at least one subsequent encoding paging burst allows thelength of the subsequent awake period to be reduced.
 6. The method ofclaim 3, wherein gathering and evaluating the neighbor cell measurementare originally scheduled in a staggered fashion to follow multiplesubsequent pages, and wherein consolidation allows the neighbor cellmeasurements to be processed immediately following receipt of a singlenull page.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the encoded paging burstcomprises an extended page.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the sleepmode period ranges between about 0.5 second to about 2.0 seconds.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the wireless terminal awakens from the sleepmode at the expiration of the sleep mode period to receive the one ofthe plurality of subsequent encoded paging bursts.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the wireless terminal operates according to the GSMstandard.
 11. A wireless terminal that comprises: a Radio Frequency (RF)front end; a baseband processor communicatively coupled to the RF frontend; an enCOder/DECoder (CODEC) processing module communicativelycoupled to the baseband processor; wherein during a first time period,the RF front end, the baseband processor, and the CODEC processingmodule are operable to: receive an encoded paging burst on a pagingchannel; decode the encoded paging burst to produce a decoded pagingburst; determine that the decoded paging burst contains a null page forthe wireless terminal; consolidate a plurality of staggered processingoperations associated with receiving a plurality of subsequent encodedpaging bursts when the decoded paging burst contains a null page for thewireless terminal; perform the consolidated plurality of staggeredprocessing operations as a group following the null page; and after theconsolidated plurality of staggered processing operations is performedduring an awake period, enter a sleep mode for a sleep mode period thatis adjacent to and follows the awake period; and after receipt of one ofthe plurality of subsequent encoded paging bursts during a subsequentawake period, enter a subsequent sleep mode period that is adjacent toand follows the subsequent awake period, wherein a length of thesubsequent sleep mode period is longer than a length of the sleep modeperiod and a length of the subsequent awake period is shorter than alength of the awake period.
 12. The wireless terminal of claim 11,wherein processing operations further comprise gathering and evaluatingneighbor cell measurements.
 13. The wireless terminal of claim 11,wherein consolidate the plurality of staggered processing operationscomprises moving forward the processing operations that are currentlyscheduled to follow at least one subsequent encoding paging burst. 14.The wireless terminal of claim 13, wherein moving forward the processingoperations that are currently scheduled to follow the subsequentencoding paging burst allows the length of the subsequent awake periodto be reduced.
 15. The wireless terminal of claim 14, wherein theprocessing operations are associated with gathering and evaluatingneighbor cell measurements.
 16. The wireless terminal of claim 13,wherein the neighbor cell measurement are scheduled in a staggeredfashion to follow multiple subsequent pages, and wherein consolidationallows the neighbor cell measurements to follow receipt of a single nullpage.
 17. The wireless terminal of claim 16, wherein the RF front end,the baseband processor, and the CODEC processing module are operable toenter the sleep mode, and wherein the sleep mode period ranges betweenabout 0.5 second to about 2.0 seconds.
 18. The wireless terminal ofclaim 13, wherein the wireless terminal awakens from the sleep mode atthe expiration of the sleep mode period to receive the one of theplurality of subsequent encoded paging bursts.
 19. The wireless terminalof claim 13, wherein the wireless terminal operates according to the GSMstandard.
 20. A wireless terminal that comprises: a Radio Frequency (RF)front end; a baseband processor communicatively coupled to the RF frontend; an enCOder/DECoder (CODEC) processing module communicativelycoupled to the baseband processor; wherein during a first time period,the RF front end, the baseband processor, and the CODEC processingmodule are operable to: receive an encoded paging burst on a pagingchannel; decode the encoded paging burst to produce a decoded pagingburst; determine that the decoded paging burst contains a null page forthe wireless terminal; consolidate a plurality of staggered neighborcell measurements currently scheduled to follow a plurality ofsubsequent encoded paging bursts, to immediately follow the decodedpaging burst that contains the null page for the wireless terminal;perform the consolidated plurality of staggered neighbor cellmeasurements as a group following the null page; after the consolidatedplurality of staggered neighbor cell measurements is performed during anawake period, enter a sleep mode for a sleep mode period that isadjacent to and follows the awake period; and after receipt of one ofthe plurality of subsequent encoded paging bursts during a subsequentawake period, enter a subsequent sleep mode period, wherein a length ofthe subsequent sleep mode period is longer than a length of the sleepmode period and a length of the subsequent awake period is shorter thana length of the awake period.
 21. The wireless terminal of claim 20,wherein moving forward the processing operations that are currentlyscheduled to follow the subsequent encoding paging burst allows thelength of the subsequent awake period to be reduced.
 22. The wirelessterminal of claim 20, wherein the encoded paging burst comprises anextended page received in multiple parts separated by at least oneframe.
 23. The wireless terminal of claim 22, wherein determining theextended page to be the null page prior to an expiration of an extendedpaging period.
 24. The wireless terminal of claim 20, wherein neighborcell measurements allow the determination of when to change which basestation services the wireless terminal.
 25. The wireless terminal ofclaim 20, wherein the RF front end, the baseband processor, and theCODEC processing module are operable to enter the sleep mode, andwherein the sleep mode period ranges between about 0.5 second to about2.0 seconds.
 26. The wireless terminal of claim 20, wherein the wirelessterminal awakens from the sleep mode at the expiration of the sleep modeperiod to receive the one of the plurality of subsequent encoded pagingbursts.
 27. The wireless terminal of claim 20, wherein the wirelessterminal operates according to the GSM standard.